Flatworlder with an Agile Compass

"The World is Flat," Thomas L. Friedman told us in 2005. Not exactly a news flash to Michael Khaw, who's been living in a flat
world since he was born in Burma 52 years ago. For starters, although his mother is Chinese and his
father Burmese, the only language he grew up with was English. His parents met in college in the
U.S. and English was their only common language. They sent him to British missionary schools, moved
the family to New England, then Santa Monica. He finished high school in Bangkok, Thailand.

Fast forward to 2009 and, depending on the time of year, you may find Michael in Sunnyvale, where
he's active in local bike clubs. Or he might just be on the other side of the pond (the Atlantic
one), as chief guide and bike washer at Agile Compass, his
own bicycle tour company operating in Italy and France.

Along the way he picked up a BSEE at Stanford, attended grad school at UC Berkeley, and labored in
high tech as a software developer. But he was happiest riding his bike on tour in Europe, especially
in Italy. "I started thinking of taking some time off from work and spending a summer working for
one of the big tour companies as a guide," he remembers.

In 1995 he was looking for something different from the usual place-to-place tour. He'd seen ads forItalian Cycling Center and asked his travel agent to set
him up there. Upon arrival he met up with his hostess Liza Dolza. "I thought she was taking me to
ICC but it turned out she had her own company, Cycling Made in
Italy. Married to an Italian, she'd been living and cycling there since 1989.

"I was the only person there that week. It was like having my own custom tour. Liza was looking to
get her company on the Web, so I offered to build her website in exchange for corresponding with
her in Italian."

Then came the dot.com bust. By then Michael had had his fill of programming and Liza needed someone
to help run her business., so he became her business partner. They ran CMI together for three years
before he branched out on his own, forming Agile Compass as a sort of spin-off.

Agile means "dynamically customized"

Michael describes the Agile Compass approach as "dynamically customized bicycle tours. Unlike most
conventional bike tours, we don't work from a cookie-cutter, predetermined itinerary. . .. Instead
of moving from city to city, Agile Compass chooses a base in one village. Clients stay there for the
entire tour, typically a week. . .. I don't have a pre-set weekly itinerary. It's sort of free-form.
We ride the first day and I figure out [what] we're going to do. We pick destinations based on how
strong people are. We might want to push one day, then take it easy another day."

It may be a little unusual not to tell people in advance exactly what they're going to be doing on
tour. But he's found that "everyone who has come has really enjoyed it and found that it really works."

Most of Michael's tours take place in the Piemonte, or Piedmont, in extreme northwest Italy near the
French border. "Just over the coastal mountains is the Mediterranean. Nearby, the Alps form a
natural barrier between France and Italy. This region isn't known as a cycling area by Americans,
but foodies and wine enthusiasts know the Piedmont is a major gourmet and wine producing center. The
cycling there is really fantastic. And there are all kinds of cultural attractions."

From his Italian base in the eastern foothills of the Alps, and one in France near the Italian
border, "we can get into the Alps," he says, "but we also have the choice of going into easier,
rolling terrain. However, if people are looking for completely flat rides, they would probably be
better served looking elsewhere."

What about the Tour de France or the Giro d'Italia, you ask? Agile Compass does indeed focus on the
Grand Tours. This year the first week of the Giro offers a superb touring opportunity. "I've gotten
to know the Dolomites reasonably well, and this year they go right through there the first week, so
we will too."

Michael's fluency in Italian is also an asset. That Italian correspondence with Liza paid off. "Everyone over
there wants to learn English because they think it's the international business language," he
claims. But I find my Italian is better than their English."

Back home in California

It was Stanford that turned Michael into a bicyclist. "I of course learned to bike as a kid. I used
to bike to junior high in Santa Monica, on an 'English racing three-speed' from Pep Boys (the auto
parts store). My freshman year at Stanford my friends I got me into bike touring. One spring I
volunteered to race in a criterium for intramural competition. When I crossed the finish line and
threw up, I decided racing was not for me."

As a fledgling software developer Michael joined a start-up assuming he'd have time to finish his
Master's at Berkeley. Yeah, right. "The last place I worked as a regular employee was at wine.com,"
he told me. The company name has since been bought out, but the website
still exists, run by completely different people. Still, it was an good education in viticulture
while it lasted.

More recently, he's built websites for a number of small businesses. "Website development is a way
to keep my hand in the software world," he told me. He displays his work on his own personal site
Dorky Pants R Us, where you'll immediately see how it was
inspired by Scott Adams's Dilbert.

One of Michael's most compelling Web projects is his collection of links to bike-related companies in the
Veneto. "Most of the people who come to the Veneto page are searching in Italy for one of these
companies and their search points to me," he discovered. "I noticed most of visitors were from Italy
so I rewrote the content in both English and Italian."

While at home on the Peninsula, Michael leads a traditional weekly ride, "Hills R Us," from Los
Altos every Wednesday. Don't show up if you don't like extended climbs! He also serves as one of the
webmasters for Western Wheelers.

Still, his aerobic heart remains in the Alps, and not just for the rides. "If you just want to go
out and hammer you're probably not going to enjoy Agile Compass," he warns. "We're going to stop,
visit local places, visit artisans, enjoy good food. Lots of people don't want to stop and eat. But
this is different. You're supposed to be enjoying yourself."

By now you may well be daydreaming about touring with Michael and his dynamic approach to new
experiences. Whet your appetito with his fantastic
photos at Agile Compass. Just remember, it's all flat -- but it's not all level!